The Catholic Church today is both Roman and global, in different ways. Before this trip, I would have thought that the church’s history was only Roman, and the modern church was only universal. Granted, the church is Roman in the area of history. The history of Rome connects the saints and early martyrs, who expressed a uniquely Catholic worldview, to the church today. However, the history of the Catholic Church is also cosmopolitan. We recall today’s class in which we discussed St. Paul’s acceptance of the Gentiles into Christianity at the Council of Jerusalem. In the same token, there are aspects of the Catholic Church that are both distinctly Roman and universal today. Before this trip, I viewed the Church as solely universal because I have studied Catholic social encyclicals, which assert the dignity of every human throughout the world. However, an element of Roman connection in the Catholic Church is the location of the Vatican and the contents of its museums. Through its presence in Italy (even though it is a sovereign state), and its collection of Roman art, the Vatican connects Catholicism to its roots. The history of the Catholic Church is both Roman and global, just as the present time of the Catholic Church is both Roman and global.
Roman history pervades the papacy. Since St. Peter is believed to have been martyred in Rome under Nero, he, as the first pope, connects this city to the emerging religion. The alleged bones of St. Peter and the place where he was crucified make Rome a religious pilgrimage. In the pilgrimage sense, Rome is probably the undisputed Catholic center of the world. At San Giovanni, we saw the table that St. Peter likely would have used, and across the street we saw the sacred stairs that Jesus is said to have ascended before his crucifixion. Many martyrs of the Catholic Church are included in Michelangelo’s fresco, The Last Judgment. Catholicism is by no means only powerful in Rome, or only created for Romans, but Rome is a focal point of Catholic history.
We have read about the life of St. Paul, and he is a good example of the cosmopolitan sense of Catholicism. Before he converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus, as depicted by Caravaggio in The Conversion of St. Paul, he was a Roman citizen who persecuted Christians. When he converted to Christianity, he became a main figure of Christianity, which includes Catholicism. He wrote many epistles of the Christian Bible, including Romans, Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. These documents are now part of the church that is universal in the Christian Bible that is read throughout the world. At the Council of Jerusalem, Paul is also universal in that he fought for Gentiles to be able to become Christians without adopting the principles of Jewish law into their lifestyle. In another example of Paul as a representation of the Church’s universal nature, Paul traveled on many missionary excursions to evangelize and to spread the Gospel message.
The location of the Vatican imbues Roman Catholicism with a distinctly Roman character. Though the Vatican is a separate, elective monarchy, many elements of Italy are connected to the Vatican. For example, the Vatican shares Rome’s wealth of history. Many sculptures and other artifacts that are not necessarily Christian, such as the sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons, which depicts a scene from The Aeneid that leads up to the fall of Troy. There were also many tapestries that depicted maps of Italy’s regions. Obviously, these things are not religious. They may represent the wish of the Vatican to tap in to the religious heritage of Rome. Thus, through the example of the Vatican Museum’s possession of non-religious art, we can see that the Vatican contains a Roman sense. This history is alive today in the thousands of pilgrims that visit the Vatican each day. It was alive when we attended the papal audience with Pope Benedict XVI and saw the many nationalities present. This is an example of a global aspect of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church is global today in its expression of Catholic social doctrine. I love the Catholic social encyclicals, which are documents that the popes have released on the dignity of every human being. According to the Catholic Church, every human person is valuable and has inalienable rights. This idea is universal and is directed at every person. It is accepted as truth in all Catholic institutions around the world. Caritas Internationalis is one of the many Catholic social justice organizations that are working to eliminate the affects of poverty and relieve places that were destroyed by national disaster. In this sense is the modern Catholic Church global. The Catholic Church is also global today in the sense that all of the readings are synchronized. If I attend mass in Italy or in America, Canada, or Australia, the Catholic mass will have the same readings for any given day, and the mass will generally be performed in the same way. This provides the church with a sense of unity, and is a global element of the faith.
The Catholic Church, upon investigation, began both as a Roman and a global faith, and it continues to be both a Roman and a global faith. Through the power of St. Peter and the continuation of the papal succession, Catholicism is a city connected to Rome. St. Paul also opened up Catholicism to non-Jews, which created a universal element to the faith. The Vatican is a modern-day connection to a Roman sense, and Catholic social justice is a global element of the faith today.
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